Twilightesque 4
by Grace Watson
Summary: A spin-off of Twilight. Modified characters. Similar and familiar plot, but a tad more realistic. Not a continuation, just a twist of the beloved series. :


"Hello and welcome back to school broncos! And if you're a freshman, then we welcome you, class of 2012! Let's make this another great school year. Let's try and keep all of our football stars alive, all our druggies in hiding and out of jail, and all of our horny bastards under control (we don't want mommies running through these halls!)" were the words of my utterly astonishing principal, Mr. Jacobs. Mr. Jacobs was most definitely unique; he had a way with us, the students. He always managed to turn horrible crises into comical jokes.

"Is it just me, or do the announcements get longer each year?" I said to the guy next to me. He turned, giving me a cold stare, but said nothing. "So have you heard anything about this class? I hear it's supposed to be easy." He managed to shrug his shoulders. In astonishment at his cold disposition, I turned back to face my computer.

After sitting through an utterly silent room for an hour, I rushed out and turned around the corner as soon as the bell had rung. That class had to be the most life-sucking class I'd ever been in. The most expression I got out of anyone was a shrug of the shoulders. The loudest sound was the hitting of fingers to the keys on the keyboards. Oh what a dull first period that will be, I thought.

I sighed and brushed my hair from my face, tucking it behind my ear. I tried to muddle through the overly crowded halls, being pushed back and forth between the incredibly tall football players towering over me. It's like I was a ball being passed back and forth, except that no one noticed. Suddenly, I looked ahead and saw a break in the crowd, I quickly shuffled between two gossiping girls, who glared at my "rudeness," and then realized that I was not the only one who noticed this advantageous situation. A tall, boy, about 6'2" or 6'3" with dark brown hair, turned his remarkably pale face to stare at me. Looking at him head-on, I noticed his flawless bone structure and prominently set chin, both of which seemed incredulously insignificant when I made my way up to his eyes. Brilliant, beautiful and blue, they were, but they were filled with shock and confusion. Taken aback, sure there must be some misunderstanding, I shot a quick, sheepish smile in his direction and turned to stare at the back of the head in front of me.

After what seemed like an eternity, I finally made my way to E-hall and sat myself into the first empty seat I found in the room. I started to pull my notebook out of my book-bag, when a clearing of a throat diverted my attention to the seat behind me. I looked up, only to see those brilliant blue eyes fixated on the blank board. My face turned red as I turned back to my desk, completely embarrassed and unsure as to how I should react, but I was most definitely sure that Emily Post didn't cover awkwardness-101…or did she? My thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice, "Lauren? I don't believe it, of course you had to be in my _math_ class; not my history class," he said with a hint of disappointment.

I let out a sigh with my returning smile, "Lawrence," I said with an affirmative nod. Before our calm casualties could continue, a shrieking girl with curly black hair pinned up into a ponytail and sealed with a red ribbon repeated my action, but with extreme enthusiasm and wide, flailing arms flying in his direction. I let out a laugh, "Good luck," I wished him. He peeled his eyes from the girl, just feet away, and gave me an appreciative expression before opening his arms and embracing the bouncy girl.

Inside, I let out a little chuckle of amusement and approval; with this "Alex"—the shrieking girl—occupying Lawrence's attention and being an utter nuisance, I would be able to focus on the 

mathematics, knowing that Lawrence's daily annoyance quota was fulfilled. Seeing my reaction and deciding to act on it, Mr. Brilliant Blue Eyes commented, "Friend of yours?" with a half-smile.

I turned my head, shocked we were speaking. "You could say that, I suppose." He raised an eyebrow at my vague reply, "We're friends, but not in the traditional sense of the world." He now raised the other eyebrow to be a full-out confused, but interested, face. I sighed, "We're more like siblings than friends."

"Ah…siblings? No more? I suspected a little…repression…or tension….in the air…has it always been this way, or is this a new thing?"

My eyes must have bugged at his bluntness. "Yes it has _always_ been this way and it will never be any different." The confusion left his face and was now replaced by remorse for ever asking. I did a double-back, shocked at my own harshness. "Oh, sorry, it's not you or the question that really bother me…it's just the frequency of the question…but still, I shouldn't have reacted like that, I'm sorry."

"It's fine; we all have our touchy subjects."

"And what are _your_ touchy subjects, now that you know mine?"

He let out a chuckle, "Wow, we sure are getting down to the root of things, aren't we? Wouldn't you rather start with the basics, like my _name_, for example?"

I could feel the blood rush to my face in humiliation at my own social awkwardness and stupidity. I wiped it from my face after a moment or two, and replaced it with a grin as I stuck out my hand, "Lauren…Masen, you?"

He chuckled, but accepted my hand and firmly shook it, "Ben," he paused twice as long as I had, "…Saxton, and it's a pleasure to finally be introduced."

Before _our_ casualties could prevail, the teacher interrupted us with an explanation about the class, what was to be expected, and what materials we would need. After what seemed like hours, the bell rang and I stood up, Ben rose shortly after, with a sigh. I turned to see if it was because of impatience, but it was more relief, completed with that same slight smile. "First days, huh?"

I allowed the annoyance to shine in my voice, though my eyes were humorous, "Yeah, always the same dull introduction, even for math—a class where no words are really necessary—well, except for final papers…"

"Those are the worst," he agreed, "not that I mind writing and literature, but I find it inappropriate in a mathematics class." I simply nodded my head, totally in agreement. "And there are all of those first impressions, as well," he said, waiting for my response.

"Oh yes, those," I said with a wrinkle of my nose.

"You don't like them?"

"Depends," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"On?"

"Who it is you're meeting and whether that first impression is good or bad."

"And what is your first impression of _me_?" He said, and I could hear the suppression of a smile in his voice.

I turned my face up to meet his smoldering eyes, sparkling with amusement. "Well, that's a hard one…I haven't really had time to process it," despite my silence, he seemed eager enough to wait for the answer, "But, so far, you seem like an…interesting person."

"Interesting," he seemed to mulling the word over in his head, "I'll take it," he said with an approving smile at my assessment. After a few more moments of standing there, staring into his sparkling eyes, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the classroom was starting to empty, he seemed to notice my wandering eyes, and spoke my exact thoughts, "I think we'd better get to class, we don't want to give our teachers a bad first impression of us." Although I knew that I probably shouldn't notice or care, I couldn't help but smile at his grouping. He turned to walk, but after a few steps he turned towards me, "Aren't you coming? Where's your next class?"

"A-hall, I have Spanish," I said, still unmoving.

"Same here," and with a simple gesture of his hand, I was moving towards him and then with him, and we seemed to be gliding towards the other end of the school. "So what level are you; two or three?"

"Four actually," and I could see him raise an eyebrow, "I took one in middle school, and I could have taken AP this year, but I opted not to," and at that he raised the other eyebrow, forming an all-out curious expression.

"Perhaps another time," he spoke with closure, and I noticed that I was standing outside of my classroom.

"Sure," I said with a quick smile as I turned and ducked into my class.

Although the bell had yet to ring, everyone was seated in their seats and the teacher let out a huff of disapproval as she fluttered past me to close the door. I sat in the last available seat, pulled out my notebook and began copying the immaculate amount of translations on the board. I finished early—Spanish was unbelievably easy for me, at least the writing parts, the speaking…not my finest area—as did most of the class and the teacher seized the opportunity to give a no-nonsense lecture. She pushed her large-brimmed glasses back to her face in the geekiest way possible. Her glasses must have had some special lenses in them because they made her eyes look very bug-eyed. She wore a semi-low-cut lime green blouse which was tucked into a brown corduroy skirt that hung to the bottom of her sagging bosoms—all of which was much too hot for the ninety-degree August weather. She cleared her throat and introduced herself as Miss Brunelli—no doubts as to why she was unmarried. Her voice croaked like a dying toad's and she pointed her finger at random students throughout the lecture. When the bell finally rang, students stampeded for the door. I stood but was pushed aside by the herd. I finally made it to the door—and I do believe I was the last to exit—I was not paying attention to my surroundings and bumped 

into something hard, causing me to spill my books all over the floor. I bent to pick up my books, not even bothering to look at what it was I had stumbled into, which is why it surprised me when I saw a pair of pale white hands reaching for my books that were not my own. I quickly rose to meet a pair of brilliant blue eyes.

"Hi," was all I could manage to say—which was quite an accomplishment for me, seeing as how I had just had the breath knocked out of me.

"Hello," he said with a smile. "Where's your next class?"

"I have Physics with Macklin," I answered, not even bothering to inquire why he would want to know.

"Excellent, so do I," he said with an even wider smile.

I smiled back and held out my hands for my books. He ignored the gesture and turned to walk towards the new science building.

"How was Spanish?"

"Boring, how was your class?" Why was I making small talk with him? I suck at small talk.

"Same, but hopefully physics will be better."

I smiled. When we reached our classroom, he opened the door and held it for me. "Thanks," I nearly chuckled.

He beamed back, "My pleasure."

My smile and joy were suddenly ripped from me when I stepped inside and found myself standing directly in front of a familiar face. "Lauren?" I heard Ben's voice calling me from the back of the room. How long had I been standing in front of Mr. Familiar Face?--Long enough for Ben to find us seats in the back of the room. I quickly snapped my mind back to reality as I shuffled my way to the back, to where Ben was. I sat myself down in the desk next to him where he had placed my books. "Is everything alright?" he leaned over and whispered in my ear.

I nodded and gave a strained smile. I could tell by his dubious expression that he didn't believe me, but there was no way I was going to—or even could—explain the familiar face. Fortunately, Mr. Macklin decided to skip the introduction lecture and dive head-first into chapter one. I pulled out my notebook and began avidly taking notes. When the bell rang, I rose only to see Ben already standing with his bag already slung across his shoulder. "Need any help?" he asked as he motioned towards the stack of books and binders on my desk.

"Uh sure," I said with a nervous smile.

"Where's your next class?" he asked as he picked up the books and turned towards the door, once again holding it open with his free hand.

"Lunch, actually," I said with a small smile.

"Me, too," he said with a wide smile as he followed me through the door. We began to walk silently to lunch. I was wondering if I was supposed to sit with him or him me, but he said nothing of the subject so I assumed that the answer must be obvious—to anyone but me.

When we got to the cafeteria, I found a group of my friends and began to walk towards them with Ben at my side. Once we reached the table, Ben set the books on the table and gave me a parting smile. Afraid of being rude, but also not wanting to say goodbye, I blurted out, "Ben, do you want to sit with us?"

He swiveled around with a huge grin, "Love to."

I smiled back a nervous smile and turned to my friends. All seemed a bit surprised but said nothing as they turned to walk towards the food line. I moved my books to the floor and pulled my lunch bag out of my backpack, placing it on the table. I looked up to see Ben sitting across from me, gazing at me with those sparkly blue eyes. "You brown bag, too?" he said with a chuckle.

I laughed and nodded my head. "How are you?" Dumb question, but I was nervous, and poor small talk and incessant chattering were my specialty for such scenarios.

He laughed at my social awkwardness but smiled as he answered, "Good, you?"

"Okay for I first day. So, are you new? I haven't seen you around before."

"Yes, I just moved here from Arizona."

"Arizona?" He had to be kidding—Arizona was my future haven…that or really any southwestern state with hot temperatures and little rain.

"Yeah, not the most interesting…but it's home…or was. It's weird, I keep forgetting that Georgia is home now."

"Arizona. How was it?"

"Hot. And dry. But I loved it."

"I bet. Someday, I want to move there…or anywhere in the southwest."

"Really? But you live here in Georgia…it can get pretty hot. And the mountains are just an hour's drive away…it's the best of both."

"I know it's not Florida or anything…but it's just too humid for me. And I'm ready for a change."

"Lived here your whole life?"

"Yep," I said in a monotonous sigh.

He chuckled, "Yeah, it's different here."

I smiled and shifted into a school-spirit mode, "What do you think of Brookwood so far?"

"Other than my general distaste for school…" and I laughed, "it's pretty good. All of my classes have been about the same as Arizona, and the people seem nice."

"It's all the southern hospitality. Aren't you glad you didn't move somewhere like New York or Boston?"

"Definitely; it's too cold." And at that, we both laughed.

"Hey guys," I said as I saw my four friends approaching. As they took their seats—Sari on my left, Asthenia across from here, Charissa on my right, and Martin across from her—Martin was a recent addition to our group, he had only just recently joined us…after befriending Charissa, yet he already knew so much about me—I cleared my throat and prepared to give introductions. "Guys, this is Ben," I said gesturing to the beauty across from me. They all smiled and Asthenia, Charissa, and Martin even waved—Sari was too focused on the physics homework in front of her to do more than nod her head in acknowledgement. "And Ben, this is, Sari, Asthenia, Charisa, and Martin," I said as I pointed to each.

"Pleasure to meet you," Ben said with a friendly smile and a nod of his head—what was up with all these head nods?


End file.
